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If John Farrell had left Toronto to manage the Red Sox, it may have exacted a heavy price.

After the Blue Jays changed their policy to prevent Farrell from joining the Red Sox, Boston kept trying to get the former pitching coach to return to Fenway Park, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported this week. But the Blue Jays would have wanted starting pitcher Clay Buchholz as compensation for releasing Farrell from his contract to come to Boston, David Waldstein of The New York Times tweeted.

The Blue Jays would have been eligible for compensation because Farrell would have been making a lateral move from Toronto, where he recently finished his first year as skipper. Buchholz would have been a hefty price to pay, as the 27-year-old right-hander is just a year removed from a season in which he went 17-7 with a 2.33 earned run average.

Although he was injured for most of the 2011 season, Buchholz is signed through 2015, with team options in 2016 and 2017, making him extremely club-friendly from a contract standpoint.

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